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Pawnbroker H&T halts short-term loans as FCA launches review Shares plunge as company warns it could have to compensate customers

Industry News | 18/11/19

One of Britain’s biggest pawnbrokers has suspended its unsecured cash loans business and warned that it may have to pay compensation to customers as the City regulator reviews its operations. H&T, which operates 254 pawnshops across the UK, said it is “working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority following a regulatory review of certain aspects and files of its high-cost short-term credit (‘HCSTC’) unsecured loans business … The group has ceased all HCSTC unsecured lending, at least temporarily, as it works through this review process.”

The announcement to the stock market sent shares in H&T crashing by nearly a quarter at one stage, but they pulled back to losses of about 15%. Until the announcement, H&T, a business valued at about £120m, had been one of the best-performing small shares on the AIM market over the last year.